I can’t say that I was overly surprised when I first heard the news that Alex Rodriguez would be heading to the New York Yankees. When the Red Sox failed to acquire Rodriguez late in 2003, I feared that he would soon be a Yankee, not because George Steinbrenner necessarily wanted or needed the MVP, but because the Yankee boss couldn’t allow the Red Sox to acquire him. Last year, the Yankees threw their money at Jose Contreras so that the Sox couldn’t sign him and then put themselves in the middle of a three-way trade that resulted in Bartolo Colon – a potential Red Sox target – heading to Chicago. George Steinbrenner is a very arrogant man but he is also very insecure. Both traits cause him to spend money wildly. Big George wants to win badly, but knows that at the present time the Yankee organization is inferior to organizations like the Red Sox, Twins, Angels, A’s, Mariners, Braves, Marlins, Astros, Cubs and Giants. To win a championship, the Yankees must not only spend more than anyone else, but much more than anyone else.

The strange thing is that after hearing the terms of the A-Rod trade, I was more angered with Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks than with George Steinbrenner. I can’t fault Hicks for trading Rodriguez to the Yankees. I am, however, furious that Hicks: (a) demanded so little in return and (b) will actually be paying for $67 million of the amount remaining on Rodriguez’s contract. On average, the Yankees will pay A-Rod about $16 million per year with the Rangers picking up the other $10 million per season. I would love to know when the Yankees became worthy of financial charity. From the Red Sox perspective, the numbers simply do not add up. The Rangers turned down the Red Sox offer of Manny Ramirez for Rodriguez, a move that would have saved Texas a total of $82 million. The trade with the Yankees will save the Rangers $106 million. However, if Texas keeps Soriano for the same five years that they would have had Ramirez at say $8 million per year, the Rangers will save only $74 million. In other words, the Rangers will be paying $8 million more in total for a player that is not nearly as good as Manny Ramirez. The Red Sox negotiated with the Rangers for two months, made fair offers and the Rangers barely budged. When the Yankees called, the Rangers caved in on a lopsided deal in a mere four days.

This news comes on the heels of other unfair Yankee deals for Javier Vazquez and Kevin Brown. All told, New York acquired the best shortstop in history (at least he used to be a shortstop) and two of the top five pitchers (ERA-wise) in the National League for Alfonso Soriano (a talented player, but a strikeout artist with no glove), Nick Johnson (mediocrity personified) and Jeff Weaver (addition by subtraction). I would think that the other Major League Baseball owners would be furious with George Steinbrenner for making a mockery of the game with his overspending. Every time George opens his wallet, salaries around the league increase and the other clubs see their chances to win a championship fade. Yet just the opposite appears to be true. The rest of the league seems more than willing to hand the Yankees their All Stars for 30 cents on the dollar. The fans of all of those teams should be furious. It is just plain bizarre. Does Steinbrenner possess some kind of X-files episode mind control? Does he have a library of incriminating photos of upper management personnel from around the league that he uses to blackmail the other teams? There must be an explanation.

“I hate you with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns.”
-Diane Chambers to Sam Malone on Cheers

This one of my all-time favorite lines from among the many great ones uttered by Cheers characters over the years. One of the reasons that I like this quote so much is that it so accurately reflects my feelings toward the New York Yankees. At least I thought that it did. After the A-Rod trade, I’m not sure that a thousands suns is nearly enough. The Yankee recipe for irritating Red Sox fans is quite simple: one part arrogance, two parts luck and ten parts money. Unlike many of Boston’s other natural rivals - the Lakers, 76ers and Montreal Canadiens – the Yankees inspire far greater hatred from Boston sports fans because they rarely earn their success. They usually buy it. When they aren’t buying it, they are relying on dumb luck to get by (Bucky Dent’s homerun in 1978, Jeffrey Maier’s quick glove in 1996, one break after another coupled with some friendly umpiring in the 1999 ALCS). To be fair, I have to give credit to the Yankees for their impressive run in 1998. They deserved that one, high payroll or not. Their success since then has been all about the benjamins.

The Yankees have always been at a great financial advantage over their competition. The trade of Babe Ruth to New York, a move which ignited the Yankee dynasty, occurred because of money. The Yankees had plenty of it and Red Sox ownership needed a quick financial fix. Through the years, the Yankees could always afford the best talent and took advantage of poorer clubs on a regular basis. In the mid 1970’s, free agency was established and the Yankees had the most money to spend. They immediately won two world championships. In the 1980’s, club payrolls equalized and the Yankees became very average. By the late 1990’s, payroll discrepancies were growing out of control and so the Yankees were able to win a few more pennants. With even marginal payroll equity, the Mariners and A’s would have been winning the AL pennants since 1999. Have the Yankees been a solid organization over the years? Sure. Would they have won even half of those 26 championships without the benefit of their great finances? No way.

It comes as no surprise that New Englanders harbor a deep and growing resentment for the New York Yankees. What is more of a surprise is how rapidly Yankee-hating is expanding across America. I was shocked when I opened Sports Illustrated a couple of weeks ago and read that George Steinbrenner was voted “Enemy of the State” in Michigan. The New England states I expected, but Michigan? The Tigers aren’t even in the same division as the Yankees anymore. Fans in every baseball city, even those in the National League, share a universal disdain for the Yankees. Yankee fans would argue that this is only because they have been winning. This is simply not true. America does not hate the Patriots, the Lakers, the Spurs or the Red Wings. The Yankees are hated because they win by outspending everyone. Most of the Yankee players are decent guys but the owner is a boorish fool who rubs his money in the noses of baseball fans who root for the other 29 clubs.

Yankee fans should be ashamed of what their team has done, but I’m quite sure they will continue to gloat. Yankee fans remind me of a C-student from a rich family who gets accepted by an Ivy League college because his father makes a huge donation that helps the school build a new library. The C-student then spends the rest of his life bragging about his status as an Ivy League graduate while mocking the A-students who were not accepted for admission to the college.

I can’t help but be angry at both the Major League Baseball Player’s Association and the owners for allowing the Yankee greed to grow out of control. Both sides seem determined to ruin baseball. The MLBPA and the owners had two opportunities to implement a salary cap (after the 1994 work stoppage and at the end of 2002 when the new collective bargaining agreement was negotiated). The players got everything they wanted in 1995 and nearly everything that they wanted in 2002. The luxury tax may lighten George Steinbrenner’s wallet, but it helps the Yankees tremendously. The luxury tax will probably benefit teams at the bottom of the payroll food chain as tax money is redistributed, but it has also widened the gap between the Yankees and the second tier teams because those teams are afraid to pass the luxury tax threshold while the Yankees have no qualms about barreling right through it. Baseball’s luxury tax is a dream come true for Yankee fans.

The Rangers, Yankees and the Major League Baseball Player’s Association should all be ashamed of themselves for what has transpired over the last three months. They are all at fault for taking the game to an even more ridiculous level than before. Still, their misdeeds do not absolve the Red Sox management team from serious blame in this matter. Though it was silly not to agree to the restructuring that Rodriguez wanted, the Player’s Union did make some concessions. A-Rod was willing to surrender his own money to reduce some of the burden on the Red Sox and appease his greedy owner. All that was left was for John Henry and Company to commit an extra $2 million per year to make this deal happen. Not only would this bring the best shortstop to ever play the game to Boston, but would pave the way for Magglio Ordonez as well. It seemed too good to be true. Sadly for Red Sox fans, when it seems too good to be true, it always is. In many ways, I respect the Red Sox for not caving in to Hicks' ludicrous demands. He was saving $82 million in the deal and that should have been enough. However, the Red Sox had gone past the point of no return. They had offended Nomar Garciaparra and raised the hopes of Red Sox Nation. They surely knew that George Steinbrenner would now come after Rodriguez. They had to make the deal. Now Sox fans may have to suffer because ownership would not pony up $2 million per year. John Henry showed Sox fans that he is not completely committed to winning a World Series. He’s clearly not a money-grubbing miser like Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, but he’s no Bob Kraft either.

From a Red Sox fans perspective, the one person that I cannot fault is Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod wanted to play in Boston and was willing to take a substantial pay cut to do it. I now despise Alex Rodriguez because he is a Yankee, not because he accepted this trade. Rangers fans should be furious with Rodriguez who accepted a role as team captain while continuing to force his way out of town.

Does the A-Rod trade mean that the Yankees have the World Series wrapped up? Not exactly. New York’s advantage (thanks to the money) is overwhelming but the Red Sox have improved greatly as well. So have the Angels, Astros and Cubs. The Red Sox should be a much more well-balanced team in 2004. Grady Little is gone. Curt Schilling is a gigantic upgrade over John Burkett in the rotation. Keith Foulke should save some of those 8-10 games that the Sox bullpen blew last season. Pokey Reese will turn many of those slow groundball singles past Todd Walker in 2003 into outs in 2004. The Sox will have Scott Williamson for an entire season. The only player of consequence that the Sox lost was Todd Walker, a defensive liability. I don’t expect any major problems in the clubhouse resulting from the A-Rod trade talks. Nomar is a professional in every sense of the word. He will not let the A-Rod situation hamper his play. Manny Ramirez’s effort and commitment is always a concern. Manny now knows that he will not be heading to the Yankees or Rangers, so my hope is that he will refocus himself and become the hitter that he was in Cleveland. With the contracts of Nomar, Pedro, Lowe, Ortiz and Varitek set to expire at the end of season, the Red Sox could be in trouble in the long run, but there is every reason to be optimistic in 2004. This will be an uphill climb but if we win it, the victory will be that much sweeter. The Magical Mystery Tour starts for real on April 4th in Baltimore.